It's been awhile. With Easter and everything, not to mention alk the before break tests, life was just insane. I FINALLY got caught up on all the missed sleep, so here's the next chapter! Please review! Italics means flashback.
"I'm sorry, Sparrow, I'm so sorry. I never thought this would happen." Nightwing knelt over his sister, who had her hand pressed over her bleeding side, gasping.
"It's fine, Wing. Just a graze."
"Yeah, and what, four knife slashes? Dammit- what the hell was I thinking!?" he cursed himself.
What had gone wrong?
"Do you feel like going on a drugs bust?" he'd asked her over the phone, a little less than four hours earlier.
"Heck yeah. In Blüdhaven?"
"Yeah. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." He'd hung up the phone, then.
She'd snuck out- Bruce had, once again, taken her off patrol. Probably had something to do with her dying her hair fire-red and getting a nose stud. But he had asked for distraction, something to take Bruce's attention off him for awhile...
"I can walk, Wing." she protested, batting at him as he tried to pick her up, bridal-style.
"You're loosing blood." Nightwing said simply. "And all those slashes... you'll need stitches. That's it- I'm calling Bruce."
"No! Are you serious!? He'll skin you alive for taking me to Blüdhaven! We did it, Wing- you can patch me up at home."
"Maybe..."
It was the first major bust he'd be doing as Nightwing. They were the Vipers, and, true to their name, they were one of the most dangerous gangs in Blüdhaven. They were into trafficking anything they could. Illegal drugs and poisions, mostly, but if a client was willing to pay enough, they'd traffic arms and other weapons- in some cases, even humans.
"Things could get rough." He'd warned her, as they headed back towards Blüdhaven.
"I know, Wing." she'd taken to calling him that ever since he'd become Nightwing.
"No, you don't. Blüdhaven is a whole different beast than Gotham..."
"If you're so unsure about me, then why'd you call and ask me to come?" she'd asked, glaring at him, slightly frustrated, from where she sat in the passanger seat of the black suburu.
Nightwing sighed. "Because- I need the help, okay? And the last person I wanted to ask was Bruce. It's a big shipment, and I knew it was too much for me to handle on my own. I need you- but I'm not sure that even both of us will be enough."
"It will be, Wing." she'd placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. "Just stay whelmed. We'll be fine- you're a great hero. We'll pull it off."
He'd smiled at her use of his old word, invented back when he was Robin. "Thanks. Now, as for the set-up..."
"Dammit." she hissed the curse when he jostled her too much.
"Sorry- it it still bleeding?" Nightwing asked, concerned. The Blüdhaven PD was on scene by now, arresting the men they'd bested, but he could care less. He was picking his way across the rooftops, carrying her back towards the apartment.
"Yeah- but it's slowing down a little." she reassured him from where she laid in his arms.
"Good..."
"They transfer the goods at the shipyard." Nightwing had said simply. From there, there are two roads out. One on the right- one on the left. There's a building on either side of each road. You take the right- start a distraction- and I'll come in from behind and take them out. Got it?"
"Got it."
They'd waited patiently, and she'd watched Noghtwing give the signal before begining her distraction with a hail of smokebombs, followed by her cackling and jumping down. The smoke would clear and the men would be so busy focusing on her, allowing Nightwing the perfect cover.
Only there had been more than the original six. There had been five men waiting in each building, just in case a situation like this arose.
Ten had come at Sparrow, surrounding her, guns blazing. She'd fought like a demon- dropped a smoke bomb and hit the ground, first, and some men were cut down by the bullets of friends. When the smoke cleared, though, only three had fallen. She was left facing seven men, three of which had assult rifles, and the rest all armed with handguns and switchblades.
Despite the odds, she'd downed two of them. But exhaustion was impending as Nightwing took down his own assailants, and a bullet grazed her. It was then she lost all sense of self-preservation, knowing if she stood still and tried to defend a moment longer she'd be killed, outnumbered and outgunned.
So she'd gone offensive. Nightwing had been screaming her name, trying to down the three men on him as fast as he could, when he watched her loose it all. She was a wild cat, vaulting into the air and flipping onto one man's back, knocking him out cold by driving her elbow into the small gap between his collar bone and shoulder blade, hitting the nerve and knocking him out cold.
Before he'd hit the ground she'd gone again, jump kicking another man in the face and knocking him out cold, ignoring his friend's blade, which bit into the flesh on her calf, ducking bullets and lunging at another man, knocking him onto his back and slamming his head into the ground.
The last two rushed her, swinging knives, and she ducked one blade, meant to slit her throat, only to be slashed by the other and fall, crying out in pain.
By then, though, Nightwing had finished off his men and moved, flipping and landing behind the men, banging their heads together, knocking them both unconcious, before kneeling down to be beside his bleeding sister.
"I'm sorry, Sparrow, I'm so sorry. I never thought this would happen."
"You still with me?" Nigtwing asked anxiously.
"I'm here, Wing." she assured him.
"Good. I've got a first aid kit in my room..." he seriously wanted to take her to the doctor, but he knew she'd never allow it. Besides, there weren't doctors in here in Blüdhaven that were loyal and kept a secret, like Dr. Leslie.
Even if he did bribe them, when the media found out about them, like they most certainly had tonight, they'd sell them out.
"The graze is the worst, right?" he asked, emerging from his room.
She nodded. Her shirt was already in tatters, and he gently helped her tug it off, revealing a blood-stained white sports bra. Nightwing held a towel to the graze on her side, finally satisfyed that the bleeding had slowed enough, before threading the needle. He stopped for a moment to meet her eyes.
"I don't have any painkillers."
"I know." she met his eyes and nodded, though she was shaky. "Do it, Wing."
"Right." he winced when the needle first penetrated the flesh, but it got easier as he went. Sparrow, for her part, never cried out, gripping the pillow and struggling to control her ragged breathing.
He'd been wrong- there were only three slashes, and thankfully, he was done within a few minutes. He sat her up, giving her a few asprin.
"How's it feel?" he asked, slightly anxious.
"I've had worse." she said, giving him a wane smile.
"What?" Nightwing asked, looking at her, perplexed.
"You just had to choose Blüdhaven, didn't you?" she asked, still smiling. "Couldn't have chosen someplace like Safety Town, or Friendlyville, could you?"
Nightwing chuckled. "I tried to warn you, kid."
"Yeah. You did. Be careful, alright?" she said, gaze imploring him. Nightwing nodded, smoothing back her hair.
"I will, little sis. Don't worry." he tossed her a white t-shirt, which she pulled on.
Just then, her phone went off.
"Dammit. It's 3:00am. I have twenty minutes to get home before Bruce comes to check on me." she stared at her brother, eyes wide, and, for once, worried. It took thirty minutes to get to the manor from here.
"You're breaking every traffic law known to man." Sparrow said, grinning, as they pushed ninty down the highway. "We're gonna get pulled over."
Nightwing turned off the headlights, then. "I'm in the police academy. I'm allowed to break the law once and awhile." he looked at the clock on the radio nervously. Ten minutes, and they were a little less than halfway home.
"Hang on a minute." he wrenched the wheel to the side, suddenly having an inspiration, and the black suburu fishtailed for a breif moment, before tearing through a feild.
"Woooo!" Sparrow was grinning, laughing from where she sat, as Nightwing grit his teeth and bared down. They WOULD get there on time...
He ditched the car a mile away from the manor, and they sprinted towards it, stopping only to catch their breath, hands on their knees, as they stood before Sparrow's window on the second floor.
"Great- how do we get in?" Sparrow asked.
Nightwing stared at her. "What do you mean, how do we get in?"
"Well, I barely caught the treebranch the first time." Sparrow said, motioning to the large maple that sat just outside her window, seven feet away from the opening.
"I doubt I can make it with a bullet graze and a bunch of gashes."
Nightwing sighed. "I'll throw you."
"You'll what?"
"I'll throw you. Just get in the tree!" they had two minutes, and they both struggled to the top of the tree, exhausted muscles trembling.
"Okay..." Dick panted, grabbing Sparrow under the arms. "You trust me, right?"
"Umm... no." Sparrow said honestly from where she was crouched on the edge of the branch.
"Well too bad. Now jump!" Nightwing pushed her as she jumped, soaring through the window and hitting the floor inside it with a huge bang. She lulled off her boots, stuffing them under the bed, before crawling under the covers.
One minute later, right on cue, Bruce ran into the room.
"Scarlet? Are you alright? I heard a bang..."
"Hmmm? Oh, yeah, I fell out of bed..." she said, acting disinterested. "Just woke me up, was all." she threw in a real yawn- man, was she tired.
"You're sweating." Bruce said, brow furrowed with concern. "Was it a nightmare?"
"No. At least, not one I remember..."
Bruce nodded, still not completely convinced.
"You want me to stay? Do you want anything- water, another pillow, maybe?"
She yawned again. "No thanks, Dad- 'm good. Just gonna go back to sleep..."
Bruce nodded, gaze lingering for a moment, before he left her.
As soon as he'd been gone for a few minutes, she stood, heading towards the window, and smiled at Nightwing, who was still hidden in the tree, camoflagued remarkably well by his black costume with blue emblems.
She gave him a grin beforeturning and heading back to bed.
It was all worth it though, when she saw the front cover of the newspaper the next day: a picture of her brother in his new costume was on it, along with two words- Hero rising.
